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San Franciscans rally for poisoned pigeons SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco has set up emergency ``pigeon patrols'' after dozens of birds were found poisoned this week, and a major newspaper begged the killer Thursday to stop the slaughter. ``The city's domestic pigeons are not `flying rats,' as some claim,'' the San Francisco Chronicle said in an angry editorial. ``Rather they are street-wise doves with the skills needed to survive in an urban jungle, like many of us.'' Those skills were lacking this week for at least 40 pigeons, found dead after eating birdseed laced with strychnine. Animal control officers have collected the bodies and tracked the poisoned pellets to at least one vacant lot in the city. Carl Friedman, director of the Department of Animal Care and Control, said he personally had witnessed a grief-stricken pigeon circling the corpse of its dead mate. ``I don't care if you're not crazy about pigeons, that's got to touch your heart strings,'' Friedman told KCBS radio. The patrols, which include homeless people who frequent areas favored by pigeons, are hoping to track down whoever is responsible for the killings -- so far without luck. Animal control officer Vicky Guldbech said she had seen pigeons plummet out of the sky after ingesting the poison. ``The bird will literally be in the flight, and then just crash down to the ground in front of you,'' Guldbech said. The birds quickly go into seizures, she said, and ``within seconds it will be dead.'' The Chronicle said the poisoning campaign represented both a ``wanton and criminal act of cruelty'' and a public danger, and called for the culprit to be brought swiftly to justice. Posted at 1:01 p.m. PDT Thursday, April 23, 1998 © 1998 Reuters Limited. |
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